North America

CANADA - The Ontario government plans to introduce legislation that would allow the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to run money for smaller pension funds and institutional investors in the public sector.

CANADA - The C$27bn (US$9.76bn) Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) moved 20% of its fund out of equities in 2008, which, the fund claims, allowed it to limit its losses to -11.96%.

CANADA - The CAN$120bn (US$94.7bn) Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has appointed former Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) chief executive Michael Sabia as its new president and CEO.

CANADA - Machinists in Canada are calling for a national pension insurance scheme to protect workers from 'corporate pension irresponsibility'.

CANADA- Moody's Investors Service maintained a stable ratings outlook for CDP Financial, the debt issuing subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, but showed concerns over the firm's risk management capabilities.

CANADA- Robert Tessier has joined Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec as chairman.

CANADA - The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has revealed a decline of C$39.8bn in the value of its assets in 2008.

CANADA - The Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System (OMERS) has posted a loss of CAN$8bn (US$6.38bn) for 2008.

US - The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board posted returns of negative 6.7% for the quarter ended December 31 on the back of weak equity markets.

CANADA - The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System has announced that its strategic investment arm has bought the asset management arm of Guard Resources (GRL).